KAPUSKASING - On September 13, 2016, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Professional Standards Bureau (PSB) arrested and charged two OPP officers after conducting an investigation related to an assault of two individuals which occurred on May 28, 2016.

As a result of the investigation, Provincial Constable Kenny Belanger, a six-year veteran of the OPP who works out of the Kapuskasing Detachment, has been charged with two counts of assault with a Weapon, contrary to section 267 (a) of the Criminal Code of Canada.

Provincial Constable Daniel Lafontaine, a nine-year veteran of the OPP who works out of the South Porcupine Detachment, has been charged with two counts of assault, contrary to section 266 of the Criminal Code of Canada.

They are scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Kapuskasing on Oct. 31, 2016.

A pair of veteran OPP officers are facing some very serious assault charges today.

On September 13, the OPP Professional Standards Bureau arrested and charged two OPP officers after conducting an investigation related to an assault of two individuals which occurred on May 28, 2016.

As a result of the investigation, Provincial Constable Kenny Belamger, a six year veteran of the OPP who works out of the Kapuskasing Detachment, has been charged with two counts of Assault with a Weapon.

Provincial Constable Daniel Lafontaine, a nine year veteran of the OPP who works out of the South Porcupine Detachment, has been charged with two counts of assault.

They are scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Kapuskasing on October 31.

KAPUSKASING - Two area police officers have been charged with assault in connection with an incident that occurred nearly three months ago.

On Tuesday, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Professional Standards Bureau (PSB) arrested and charged two OPP officers after conducting an investigation related to an assault of two individuals that occurred on May 28.

As a result of the investigation, OPP Const. Kenny Belanger, a six-year-veteran of the OPP who works out of the Kapuskasing detachment, has been charged with two counts of assault with a weapon.

Additionally, OPP Const. Daniel Lafontaine, a nine-year veteran of the OPP who works out of the South Porcupine setachment, has been charged with two counts of assault.

They are scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Kapuskasing on Oct. 31.

Two James Bay Detachment OPP officers, who were facing multiple charges related to a May 18, 2016, incident, were sentenced in the Ontario Court of Justice in Kapuskasing on Friday.

OPP Cst. Kenny Belanger, Kenny Belanger, a six-year-veteran of the OPP who worked out of the Kapuskasing detachment, had been charged with and pleaded guilty to two counts of Assault with a Weapon, contrary to section 267 (a) of the Criminal Code of Canada.

OPP Acting Sergeant Daniel Lafontaine, a nine-year veteran of the OPP who worked out of the South Porcupine detachment, was charged with and pleaded guilty to two counts of assault, contrary to section 266 of the Criminal Code of Canada.

The facts as accepted by the court were:

- On the morning of May 18, the two officers were looking for a woman, who was involved in a stabbing incident earlier in the day with the intent of arresting her.- They initially attended 118 Riverside Dr. and were advised the woman they were looking for could be found at 110 Riverside Dr.- The two officers attended 110 Riverside Dr. where they were met by the male victim, who was the boyfriend of the female victim. He directed the officers to the rear door of the residence. At that time, Acting Sgt. Lafontaine asked the male victim if the woman they were looking for was at the residence.- The male victim stated on more than one occasion that the woman that the officers were looking for was not at the residence.- The officers saw a young female at the residence and asked the male victim who she was. The male indicated the young female was his girlfriend (who, it is worth noting, bore the same first name as they woman they were looking for).- The victim was 15 years old at the time, while the woman they were looking for was 23 years old.- The officers told the male victim they wanted to check on the well being of the female in the residence.- The female victim attended at the door with an infant in her arms. She was directed to hand the infant over to the male victim and she complied.- At that point, Acting Sergeant Lafontaine stepped into the residence and grabbed the female victim. Eventually assisted by Cst. Belanger, they pulled the female victim from the residence as she actively resisted their attempts to do so.- In the meantime, the male victim went to wake up the female victim’s uncle, who was resting upstairs in the residence. - The female victim’s uncle could clearly here his niece repeatedly telling the accused she was not the person they were looking for and could see them bringing her toward a police vehicle at the end of the driveway.- At this point the male victim attempted to intervene in order to assist the female victim.- The officers retrieved their tasers and started yelling, “Get down”.- The female victim’s uncle was outside attempting to advise the officers that the female victim had a heart condition.- Without issuing a proper taser warning, Cst. Belanger tased the male victim, who went to the ground and started shaking.- The female victim started running toward Cst. Belanger and he tased her. She fell to the ground and she could not get up. She could be heard crying out: “My Heart!” She was tased a total of three times.- As he continued to try to advise Cst. Belanger of his niece’s heart condition, Cst. Belanger told the girl’s uncle to back off or he would be next.- The male victim was eventually handcuffed by acting Sgt. Lafontaine, while Cst. Belanger completed the handcuffing of the female victim. They were both transported to hospital in order to remove the taser prongs.- While at the hospital Acting Sergeant Lafontaine directed another officer to take a picture of the female victim and show it to the complainant of the stabbing incident for identification purposes. It was at that time that the complainant from the earlier incident advised officers that the photo of the female victim of the tasing was not the woman, who had stabbed her. Acting Sergeant Lafontaine apologized to the female victim, and then advised her that she would be charged with resisting arrest. As it turns out, this was not the case, as both victims had been wrongfully detained and arrested and were within their legal rights to resist with reasonable force.- The facts also disclosed that neither of the officers conducted an RMS check with regards to the identity of the woman they were intending to arrest prior to the arrest of the male and female victims. Neither of the officers asked the female tasing victim for her identification. The female victim was also not informed of her rights during the arrest.- The officers were not invited into the house.- Only Cst. Belanger deployed his taser.- The female victim had agreed to accompany the officers willingly but changed her mind.- Cst. Belanger said the scene was chaotic and that he did not hear anyone warn him of the female victim’s heart condition.- Both officers’ notes were not accurate as were their respective reports, and were deliberately false and misleading and designed to mitigate if not eradicate any hint of wrongdoing.

As a result of his conviction on the first count of assault with a weapon, Cst. Belanger received a two-year suspended sentence including two years of probation, 240 hrs. of community service to be served within the first 18 mos. of probation, counseling as recommended by the probation officer, a five-year weapons prohibition, will be required to provide a DNA sample for the DNA database and to pay victim fine surcharges within 60 days. The second count of assault with a weapon carried the same sentence.

Both of Cst. Belanger’s sentences will be served concurrently.

“I accept that the actions of Cst. Belanger were out of character for him and that he is genuinely remorseful for his actions,” said the presiding Justice. “I also accept that at the time of the incident, Cst. Belanger was suffering from undiagnosed mental health issues including post-traumatic stress disorder. “However, Cst. Belanger was in breach of trust in executing his duties as a police officer. Both officers are responsible for the victims suffering significant physical and emotional distress, the effects of which continue today. Family members have suffered significant emotional distress, which continues to this day. The community of Kashechewan has been affected by the actions of the accused.

“Cst. Belanger subverted the course of justice by making false entries and omissions in his notebooks, and by providing false information to mitigate the circumstances surrounding the arrest of the victims.

As a result of the conviction of the first count of simple assault, Acting Sergeant Daniel Lafontaine received a two-year suspended sentence, including two years of probation, 180 hrs. of community service to be served within the first 18 mos. of probation, and will have to provide a DNA sample for the DNA database and pay victim fine and surcharges. The second account of simple assault carried the same sentence.

Acting Sergeant Lafontaine’s legal representative had asked for a conditional discharge as part of his client’s sentence. His request was denied.

His sentences will also run concurrently.

“I accept that the actions of Acting Sergeant Lafontaine were also out of character for him and that he is genuinely remorseful for his actions.

“However, Mr. Lafontaine was the senior officer and has admitted he should have done more to ascertain the true identity of the female victim. By not conducting the simple RMS check, he put both victims in harm’s way. Mr. Lafontaine did not accept the statement of the male victim that the female victim was not the person the officers were looking for. An RMS check would have provided a photo of the female they were looking for. Seeing a young, indigenous female in the residence was enough for Mr. Lafontaine.

“He unlawfully entered the residence. He gave no consideration to a warrant. He unlawfully arrested and detained the female victim. He did not advise the victims of their right to counsel. It does not appear the victims received any cautions, nor were they appropriately advised as to the reason for their arrest.“The investigative shortcuts used by Mr. Lafontaine must be clearly denounced by this court. While I acknowledge Mr. Lafontaine did not discharge his taser that day, it was his unlawful conduct that created this unfortunate chain of events.

“His breach of trust did not end with the discovery he had arrested the wrong person. He set out to subvert the court of justice by providing false information in the preparation of his notes and to his superior officer. These are core duties of a police officer. Of particular concern are the entries that suggest:

1- He was invited into the residence. This is false.2- That he conducted an RMS check prior to attending the residence, which he did not.3- That Mr. Belanger shouted the command “taser taser” before deploying his weapon against the male victim. No such warning was given.4- That the male victim was running aggressively at Cst. Belanger when he deployed his taser on him. That was clearly inaccurate.

“When I consider the circumstances of the offences, together with the officer’s attempt to deliver false information regarding the investigation, I come to the conclusion that a conditional discharge would be contrary to public interest.”

The Crown had asked for public apologies from both officers to the victims and their respective families, but decided to forego that condition after both officers stood up in court and formally apologized during submissions and the reading of victim impact statements on Thursday afternoon.

“It is truly unfortunate that the female victim feels that the officers were not listening to her because she was indigenous,” said the judge. “Hopefully the victims, their families and their community will be able to continue with the healing process.”

The future of both officers’ careers as police officers will be determined in a future hearing with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Professional Standards Bureau (PSB).

KAPUSKASING - Two OPP officers who zapped a 15-year-old girl and her boyfriend with a Taser in what turned out to be a case of mistaken identity, have pleaded guilty to assault.

Const. Kenny Belanger, a six-year-veteran of the Ontario Provincial Police, who worked out of the Kapuskasing detachment, pleaded guilty in the Ontario Court of Justice in Kapuskasing on Friday, to two counts of assault with a weapon.

His co-accused, Acting Sgt. Daniel Lafontaine, a nine-year veteran of the OPP who worked out of the South Porcupine detachment, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault.

However, neither officer will face jail time for their offenses.

Belanger received a two-year suspended sentence with two years of probation, and was ordered to complete 240 hours of community service. He is also prohibited from possessing a firearm for the next five years.

Lafontaine received a two-year suspended sentence with two years of probation, and was ordered to complete 180 hours of community service.

The charges against the officers stem from an incident that occurred in Kapuskasing on May 18, 2016.

Belanger was the only officer involved who deployed his Taser.

According to the facts that were read in and agreed to by the Crown and the defence, officers Belanger and Lafontaine on May 18, 2016, were in the midst of investigating a stabbing that has occurred earlier that day.

The suspect they had in mind was a 23-year-old female.

They visited a residence on Riverside Drive in Kapuskasing in search of this woman and were told, the suspect they were looking for was just a few doors away.

When the two officers attended that residence, they were met by a male, who was the boyfriend of the 15-year-old female who would later be assaulted.

Acting Sgt. Lafontaine asked the male victim if the woman they were looking for was at that residence.

The male stated on more than one occasion the woman they were searching for was not there.

The officers subsequently noticed a young female in the residence and asked the male who she was. The male indicated she was his girlfriend — who, as it turned out, had the same first name as the woman they were looking for.

The officers told the male they wanted to check on the well-being of the female in the residence.

The female victim went to the door. At that moment, she was holding an infant in her arms. She was directed to hand the infant over to her boyfriend and she complied.

At that point, Lafontaine stepped into the residence and grabbed the teenaged girl. Eventually assisted by Belanger, they pulled the female from the residence as she actively resisted their attempts to do so.

In the meantime, the boyfriend went to wake up his girlfriend’s uncle, who was resting upstairs in the residence.

According to the facts read into the court, the uncle could clearly hear his niece repeatedly telling the officers she was not the person they were looking for. He could see them bringing her toward a police vehicle at the end of the driveway.

At this point the boyfriend attempted to intervene in order to assist the female victim.

The officers retrieved their Tasers and started yelling, “Get down”.

The uncle also came outside and attempted to advise the officers that the 15-year-old girl had a heart condition.

Court heard that Const. Belanger, without issuing a proper warning, used his Taser to stun the boyfriend, who fell to the ground and started shaking.

The female victim started running toward Const. Belanger and he zapped her. She fell to the ground and could not get up. She could be heard crying out, “My heart!”

Belanger zapped her with the Taser three times.

As he continued to try to advise Const. Belanger of his niece’s heart condition, Belanger told the girl’s uncle to back off or he would be next.

The male victim was eventually handcuffed by Acting Sgt. Lafontaine, while Const. Belanger completed the handcuffing of the female victim. They were both transported to hospital in order to remove the Taser prongs.

While at the hospital, Lafontaine directed another officer to take a photograph of the female victim and show it to the complainant of the stabbing for identification purposes.

It was at that point the complainant from the earlier incident advised the officers that the 15-year-old female in the photo was not the woman who had stabbed her.

The court heard, Acting Sgt. Lafontaine subsequently apologized to the female victim, and then advised her that she would be charged with resisting arrest. As it turns out, this was not the case as both victims had been wrongfully detained and arrested, the court was told.

It was also revealed in court that neither of the officers conducted a criminal records check in regards to the identity of the woman they were intending to arrest prior to the arrest of the male and female victims.

Also neither of the officers asked the 15-year-old female for her identification nor was she informed of her rights during the arrest.

The court heard the officers who grabbed the teen did not have a warrant to enter the premises, nor had not been invited into the house.

It was also noted in court that both officers had falsified details in their notes and incident reports in an attempt to mitigate any hint of wrongdoing on their part.

The officers claimed in their notes they had been invited into the residence, they had conducted a criminal records check prior to attending the residence, that Belanger had shouted “Taser, Taser” as a warning before deploying his weapon, and that the male victim had been running “aggressively” towards the officers before the conducted electrical weapon was used on him.

The court concluded these entries into police officers’ notes and reports were all false.

The court was advised that the future of both officers’ careers in policing will be determined at a future hearing with the OPP Professional Standards Bureau.